Shabbat Parashat Re'eh - 5785

Shabbat Parashat Re'eh - 5785

Rabbi Hal Miller

  Safeguard and hearken to all these words that I command you in order that it be well with

  you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and what is right in the

  eyes of Hashem your God. [Devarim 12:28]

The first two words here are shamor v'shamata, safeguard and hearken. What exactly is this verse teaching us that we are supposed to do? Rav Hirsch says it means "listen carefully to all these words". Onkelos translates it as "observe and accept". Torah Temimah writes "take heed and hearken". But however we translate the words, we still have to ask what the verse intends. For example, Torah Temimah splits it down, that take heed means to bring the thanksgiving offering, and hearken implies that we should not just do this mindlessly. But most commentators seem to think the two words are two aspects of one idea.

Rashi explains safeguard as Torah study that one must guard in his stomach so that it should not be forgotten, citing Mishlei [22:18]. He says that if one studies he will be able to hearken, to obey and fulfill.

Many ask why these words are not in the reverse order, that one must hear a commandment before being able to fulfill it. This, of course, is precisely the case of na'aseh v'nishma. Or HaChayim comes out exactly opposite of Rashi, stating that Moshe is telling us that one who fulfills a commandment will then want to study it, thus safeguarding leads to hearkening. Kol Dodi asks the same order question and explains that the verse is telling that one who keeps the law will merit to understand in more depth what God really wants, thus the "what is good and what is right" and the requirement to go beyond the minimum demands of the law in Bava Metzia [30b].

There is another aspect to these two words. We can read them simultaneously in the way we read the commandment to honor the Shabbat. In Shemot [20:8] the verse tells us "Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it" and in Devarim [5:12] "Safeguard the Sabbath day to sanctify it". The zachor and shamor we understand were spoken by God simultaneously, two concepts derived from one utterance. Humans cannot speak this way, and in fact cannot hear this way, so God had to split it into two verses. Here in our portion we have two concepts joined in one verse but as separate words. Sforno explains the Shabbat issue that one should "Be mindful and remember the Sabbath day constantly in all your dealings during the days of work". Applying this concept to our verse, we have no reason to worry about word order as they are really simultaneous. Further, our verse is teaching us two things in one, that we are required to both perform and to think about, meaning to study, "all these words", and not just choose one of those tasks. Torah study and Torah performance are equal requirements.